Car Feature>> Garage Kagotani R34 Gt-r

For my last selection of the Game Changers theme that we've had this month I decided to pick another GT-R, the Garage Kagotani BNR34. It was a car that appeared as quickly as it disappeared, it surprised everyone at the 2005 Tsukuba Super Battle by coming in third position with a 57"232 lap, and that was it, after that it was gone.

Kagotani-san, seen here posing…

…next to his caricature on the carbon sides of the rear GT-Wing, was contacted by a customer of his that wanted to create something different. A dedicated and very capable time attack car, extreme in every way from the powerful yet responsive engine to the one-off exterior.

The car was shown off at the 2006 Tokyo Auto Salon where at the same time the complete  Garage Kagotani G-Force aero kit was released to the public. It may cost a cool ¥1,000,000 ($12,415 at todays rates)…

…but it still remains one of the most high quality conversions I've ever seen. With factory-like panel fit and sturdy construction this FRP kit was spiced up with a little carbon here and there for added effect. The aero was designed to give a Super GT feel to the R34 and to be as effective as possible at creating high levels of downforce at the front and rear, not to mention directing large abounts of air towards the engine, various coolers and brakes.

Check out the extractors integrated into the rear bumper, there to channel air out from under the car. 

This R34 really put Garage Kagotani on the map as a serious and capable builder of fast circuit cars, and his experiences isn't only in GT-Rs, his shop is littered with all sorts of cool unique projects, which you will be seeing soon in a little tour of his facility.

Rays collaborated with Garage Kagotani on the project, fitting it out with the then pre-production version and now discontinued, titanium effect Gram Lights DR-505.

These 18×9.5J wheels featured a welded on external rim part, where the titanium like effect was applied. Since the car was built for track duty only it was fitted with sticky Advan A048 semi-slicks in 265/35R18 sizes all round.

Hiding behind the chunky spokes of the CRs is a complete AP Racing braking package made up of 6-pot calipers up front and 4-pots out back. These are joined with 2-piece floating discs, 355 mm front, 332 mm rear.

Kagotani had quite a challenge on his hands when it came to the engine, as he needed to create a responsive yet very powerful set up able to give instant acceleration out of corners. He based the motor around a limited edition "RRR" 2.8L Nismo GT block, the same cast iron block that the JGTC and Super GT GT500 GT-Rs used to use in competition. This, along with the HKS 2.8L kit, would allow for faster spool up of the Trust T88-33D single turbo that was chosen. Kagotani-san made sure the head was as efficient as possible so dedicated a lot of time to porting and polishing all surfaces before he threw on a ton of Tomei Powered goodies like valve springs, guides, 270º cams and adjustable cam pulleys. I especially liked the transparent air box!

The T88 dumps spent exhaust gasses through a GReddy front pipe and Power House Amuse full titanium system. Fuelling is handled by two Bosh pumps which fish high-octane gas from the 50L race fuel cell in the trunk before sending it to the six 1000 cc/min injectors. An HKS F-Con V Pro ECU takes care of the engine management and allows the RB28 to churn out 700 HP at just 1.5 bar of boost.  

With the car weighing in at just over 1,400 kg that is a decent amount of power to be playing with. In time attack, shifting through gears quickly is a very important thing, so it's no surprise that the stock Getrag transmission was replaced with an OS Giken 6-speed sequential. This allows for almost instantaneous changes while the ATS twin plate carbon clutch makes sure every lb/ft of torque is transferred efficiently. With 700 HP on tap guaranteeing optimal traction is vital, so Kagotani-san fitted a Cusco 1.5way LSD at the front and a smooth-engaging ATS 2way carbon LSD at the rear.

Element adjustable race dampers take care of the handling and are joined by very hard Swift springs, 20 kg/mm front and a slightly softer 16 kg/mm at the rear.  

Swing open the driver side door and the surprises continue, revealing the fully stripped and prepped chassis…

…custom welded-in roll cage…

…and lots and lots of carbon fiber. 

All-important modules like the HKS boost controller, A/F knock amp meter and lap timer… 

…as well as the Defi gauges are neatly laid out in the center console, again all made in carbon fiber. 

So there you have it, yet another impressive GT-R build and a car that really made itself noticed. It showed that with a bit of imagination and great engineering skills to back it up you can accomplish anything. 

Garage Kagotani

Game Changers features on Speedhunters

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

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1

Why haven't I seen this GT-R before? I love the build quality, attention to detail and simple yet effective aero that looks super aggressive.

2

"DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE DRIVER".



i love it.

3

neat! as in fkn clean! this is doing R34 right.

4

Just an awesome car in every way! My favorite GT-R of all times! One of your best Car Features ever! Looking forward to the Garage Kagotani Shop feature!

5

i have this poster on my wall.

pretty sure this game changers month just needs to be renamed, cars DINO shot for hpi month

6

I just came

7

can we have pic number 1 as a wallpaper pretty please??????

8

Why does it have a left hand drive cage?

The diagonal in the hoop should always go from the drivers head to passenger floor, same as the diagonal in the roof, drivers head to passenger windscreen.





9

sweet time attack machine

11

OH so so sick! desk tops please keep up the good good work speed freaks

12

"These 18x9.5J wheels featured a welded on external rim part" the lip is welded on? That doesn't sound safe. do you mean that there's a section on top of the lip?

13

love what going on under the bonnet, very puposeful and seemingly well tuned powerplant! - oohh how i want those Gram Lights! and i know why those gauges are angled like that now - Thanks

14

This months theme held a lot of promise. Was looking forward to seeing a VARIETY of different makes and models, from around the world. But, its seems to have fallen well short of its potential. Take this particular R34 for example, its a really nice build, but a game changer? How? By his own admission it disappeared as soon as it had appeared, it didnt set any new records during that time, how was it a game changer?

The r32 GTR at Bathurst, Subaru WRC car, Diesel Le Mans cars, Mazda 787b, Ford gt40 etc, now they seem more like game changers. But three r34 tuner cars from Japan?



I hope you do this theme again, but just put a bit more time an effort into collecting a variety of cars...

15

Stripped like that and it still weighs "over 1400Kg"? Damn the Skyline's a fat car, I wouldn't bother with a TA machine if it weighed more than ~1250.

16

Now that's a feature car!

17

"Danger! High Voltage driver!" Hahahahaha.

Nice warning!

18

Desktopppppp !!!

20

Those aren't wheels aren't Rays Gram Lights. They are Rays Daytona Racing DR505

21

D, good point. I enjoyed the coverage but there are certainly other game-changing vehicles out there.

22

I agree with D... Its cool and all, but I thought the game changer theme would be a list of cars that were very well known and really made a mark in their field that you might look at in some detail.

23

i remember reading about this car in turbo magazine i loved it then and i still love it now.

24

good car.....

25

Wow thats an impressive GTR

26

this is the kind of game changer that deserves praise. People look at the Bensopra gtr and call it amazing. It's a fast show piece. This is what true racecar engineering becomes when you transform a dealership car into a monster. So nice!

27

Desktop pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

28

is that a carbon fibre gear shift boot?

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